ns added to my already high esteem. The effort was
doubly wise in Brandon's case. Should love with his intense nature
reach its height, his recklessness would in turn assert itself, and
these two would inevitably try to span the impassable gulf between
them, when Brandon, at least, would go down in the attempt. His
trouble, however, did not make a mope of him, and he retained a great
deal of his brightness and sparkle undimmed by what must have been an
ache in his heart. Though he tried, without making it too marked, to
see as little of Mary as possible, their meeting once in a while could
not be avoided, especially when one of them was always seeking to
bring it about. After a time, Mary began to suspect his attempts to
avoid her, and she grew cold and distant through pique. Her manner,
however, had no effect upon Brandon, who did not, or at least appeared
not to notice it. This the girl could not endure, and lacking strength
to resist her heart, soon returned to the attack.

Mary had not seen Brandon for nearly two weeks, and was growing
anxious, when one day she and Jane met him in a forest walk near the
river. Brandon was sauntering along reading when they overtook him.
Jane told me afterwards that Mary's conduct upon coming up to him was
pretty and curious beyond the naming. At first she was inclined to be
distant, and say cutting things, but when Brandon began to grow
restive under them and showed signs of turning back, she changed front
in the twinkling of an eye and was all sweetness. She laughed and
smiled and dimpled, as only she could, and was full of bright glances
and gracious words.

She tried a hundred little schemes to get him to herself for a
moment--the hunting of a wild flower or a four-leaved clover, or the
exploration of some little nook in the forest toward which she would
lead him--but Jane did not at first take the hint and kept close at
her heels. Mary's impulsive nature was not much given to hinting--she
usually nodded and most emphatically at that--so after a few failures
to rid herself of her waiting lady she said impatiently: "Jane, in the
name of heaven don't keep so close to us. You won't move out of reach
of my hand, and you know how often it inclines to box your ears."

Jane did know, I am sorry for Mary's sake to say, how often the fair
hand was given to such spasms; so with this emphasized hint she walked
on ahead, half sulky at the indignity put upon her, and half amused at
her whi